NPJ Vaccines . SARS-CoV-2 ferritin nanoparticle vaccine induces robust innate immune activity driving polyfunctional spike-specific T cell responses

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NPJ Vaccines


. 2021 Dec 13;6(1):151.
doi: 10.1038/s41541-021-00414-4.
SARS-CoV-2 ferritin nanoparticle vaccine induces robust innate immune activity driving polyfunctional spike-specific T cell responses


Joshua M Carmen ^{# 1} , Shikha Shrivastava ^{# 1 2} , Zhongyan Lu ^{# 3} , Alexander Anderson ^{1 4} , Elaine B Morrison ¹ , Rajeshwer S Sankhala ^{5 6} , Wei-**** Chen ^{5 6} , William C Chang ^{5 6} , Jessica S Bolton ⁷ , Gary R Matyas ¹ , Nelson L Michael ⁸ , M Gordon Joyce ^{5 6} , Kayvon Modjarrad ⁵ , Jeffrey R Currier ⁹ , Elke Bergmann-Leitner ⁷ , Allison M W Malloy ¹⁰ , Mangala Rao ¹¹



Affiliations

• PMID: 34903722
• DOI: 10.1038/s41541-021-00414-4

Abstract

The emergence of variants of concern, some with reduced susceptibility to COVID-19 vaccines underscores consideration for the understanding of vaccine design that optimizes induction of effective cellular and humoral immune responses. We assessed a SARS-CoV-2 spike-ferritin nanoparticle (SpFN) immunogen paired with two distinct adjuvants, Alhydrogel^® or Army Liposome Formulation containing QS-21 (ALFQ) for unique vaccine evoked immune signatures. Recruitment of highly activated multifaceted antigen-presenting cells to the lymph nodes of SpFN+ALFQ vaccinated mice was associated with an increased frequency of polyfunctional spike-specific memory CD4⁺ T cells and K^b spike-(539-546)-specific long-lived memory CD8⁺ T cells with effective cytolytic function and distribution to the lungs. The presence of this epitope in SARS-CoV, suggests that generation of cross-reactive T cells may be induced against other coronavirus strains. Our study reveals that a nanoparticle vaccine, combined with a potent adjuvant that effectively engages innate immune cells, enhances SARS-CoV-2-specific durable adaptive immune T cell responses.